Operational Group: Solar dryer - drying with solar input for wood chips

The aim is to validate solar thermal technology for drying wood chips made from forest byproducts and waste to achieve a moisture content of W20. Two technologies will be tested:

1. Solar-assisted drying involves using a cross-flow hot air dryer and adding heat input from solar thermal panels. The project involves modulating currents based on temperature and humidity to achieve faster drying with minimal non-renewable energy consumption.
   
2. Solar drying aims to develop a pilot solar dryer that will allow testing the drying technology without any thermal input other than solar energy. To this end, the technology will be tested in a location with the worst weather conditions for woodchip drying in Galicia: Baralla, which has a low average temperature and high relative humidity year-round.